The latest carriage of the GTA steamtrain has been dated in the US and Europe.

Perhaps the most surprising game announcement of E3 saw the blockbusting Grand Theft Auto series finally hitting the current most popular console on Earth. Sporting a stylish 2.5D look, Chinatown Wars looks to hark back to the plain fun nature of the original games on the PC and PlayStation.

Now, the DS title has finally been given a firm date for western territories, releasing in the US on March 17th next year. The great news is that Europe will only have to wait three days until the game's release on March 20th.

Founder of developer Rockstar, Sam Houser, also had some encouraging words for loyal fans on the series:

"Rockstar Leeds have once again created a game that far exceeds our standard for deep and innovative entertainment...We are incredibly excited to share this enormous and uncompromising Grand Theft Auto experience with DS fans."

Let us know what you think of the new GTA title in the comments section below.